Nordic Football News

FC Inter (6th) – IFK Mariehamn (4th), Saturday 6:30 PM

The weekend (Monday included) has a full round of Veikkausliiga in store for football fans. Tonight’s game is first of the seven matches to be played, and NFN will treat you to minute-by-minute updates of the game in this post. The page does not refresh automatically, but Firefox users can make their way around the problem by installing ReloadEvery. The rest of you can google “auto-refresh” or install Firefox. Or spend your evening tapping the refresh button.

COMMENTS

Vesa Pohjonen, the referee: The linesman flagged the Inter goal as an offside and I walked over him, because it was IFK’s own player who passed the ball to Furuholm.

Henri Lehtonen, Inter defender: We had the possession. We knew that IFK are good with their set pieces, and we let them score from one of them. It’s a big disappointment. The problem is not on the mental side. If we don’t score from chances like that, it is up to what the individuals do when they get the chances. It is an issue of skill.

Pekka Lyyski, IFK Mariehamn head coach: We were better in the first half and led deservedly, but in the second half Inter got more control through long balls to Furuholm. Inter had more chances, but then again we rattled the bar.

Job Dragtsma, FC Inter head coach: We were not so good in the first half, but the second half was total domination from us. I don’t consider this game a preparation match for the Champions League, we just wanted to win this game.

LIVE BLOG

90+3 minutes: That’s it, there’s the full time whistle. Both sides look a bit disappointed, but Inter players especially seem somewhat downhearted. There’s no reason for that, because I said this will be a draw – just scroll down the post and see for yourself. Comments from the head coaches will be up soon.

90+1 minutes: Verino is playing up front now, so it seems Inter are pretty desperate to get the win.

90 minutes: Additional time 3 minutes. Some spectators think they’ve seen enough already.

89 minutes: I’m typing like hell to keep up here. Inter get attack after attack, but fail to score. Ingves just made his way to Inter’s end along the left flank, but his poor cross goes behind for a goal kick.

88 minutes: Verino gets the ball to his feet five meters from target, but his strike is awful. Just seconds earlier his header went just over.

86 minutes: Furuholm gets free of the last defender, but the defender comes back at the last moment to win the ball cleanly. That is too much for Furuholm, who, incredibly, starts whining to the ref for what was an excellent piece of clean defending. “Furuholm is an idiot”, is the gut reaction of a person near me.

84 minutes: Ojala receives a cross from the right and drops the ball to Kauko, but another weak effort from him goes wide of the right post. A poor strike from an excellent position.

82 minutes: Johan Karlsson plays the ball to the right flank and is brought down by Sanevuori, who gets a deserved booking. A weird decision from the ref though to not let the play go on, IFK could have build a good attack there.

81 minutes: Ingves almost connects to Olofsson’s great through ball, but Bantamoi manages to save it in the end.

81 minutes: Ten minutes to go and IFK are in control of the proceedings now.

79 minutes: An excellent through ball reaches Simunac, who dribbles closer to the edge of the area. When about to face Nyman, he uses his heel to drop the ball to Olofsson. He produces an excellent shot that strikes the bottom of the bar and touches the goal line before Bantamoi gets to it. Lady Luck saved Inter there, but she has also saved IFK Mariehamn on a couple of occasions.

76 minutes: Substitution for IFK: Gashi is ready for today, Wilhelm Ingves replaces him.

74 minutes: Gashi dribbles his way into the area, but Nyman cleanly tackles him down and takes the ball. If you can say that you have seen Nyman ever make a mistake in Veikkausliiga and can prove it, call me and I’ll buy you a beer.

73 minutes: Needless to say, this is not the world’s most beatiful football game now. The pitch is soaked, and both sides prefer the longer ball. IFK’s Johan Carlsson picks a booking.

72 minutes: Inter are firmly in control now, IFK are really struggling. Substitution for the visitors, Ekhalie goes out and Marcus Olofsson comes in.

71 minutes: Two substitutions for Inter: Kennedy is replaced by Ojala, Purje goes out and is replaced by Sanevuori.

69 minutes: Furuholm almost connects to a Ramirez corner that follows a wasted chance by Paajanen, but the ball goes behind for a goal kick.

67 minutes: It is raining VERY heavily now, and the lightnings make a great noise. See for yourself, if you can:

65 minutes: Another clear cut chance for Furuholm, another miss.

62 minutes: Furuholm is on the breakaway again, but this time he shoots at the keeper and wastes an excellent chance.

62 minutes: 1-1 FURUHOLM Another weak backpass from the IFK backline. Kennedy gives the ball to Furuholm, who easily converts. Interesti gly, the assistant has his flag up, but the referee runs over him and decides that the goal stands.

60 minutes: In the middle of some Inter possession, Gashi gets a good chance. He connects to a cross from the right, but his header goes just wide.

59 minutes: The God of Thunder is in action now. A heavy rain just started, let’s see if it will develop into something even more funny.

58 minutes: An Inter free kick from the right. The free kick is deflected easily, but there follows a cross that Ochieng has some trouble intercepting. Inter are looking much better than in the first half, but if they miss the kind of chances that Paajanen got, who knows?

56 minutes: Gruborovics has an excellent effort from 35 or 40 meters. Over the bar, but still a great shot.

56 minutes: A dark cloud is approaching and a couple of lightnings can be seen, so maybe there will be some kind of a storm after all? I have a computer in front of me, so if you hear nothing of me, one of us is dead. Me or my computer.

54 minutes: An IFK defender brings down Paajanen and Inter get a free kick from the right. Verino connects to Ramirez’s head, but Verino heads it just over the bar. Paajanen wanted the IFK defender to be booked. He has valid grounds for the argument, but he should still stop complaining and get his head down.

52 minutes: A weak headed backpass from an Inter defender almost lets in Purje. Ochieng is forced to come far out, but he does prevent Purje from breaking away.

50 minutes: An IFK defender misses what should have been an easy interception, and Paajanen finds himself in the area with the ball and all the time he needs. Somehow he still manages to blast the ball against Ochieng. If you don’t convert a chance like that, you never score. Seconds later Furuholm finds some space on the edge of the area, but his strike goes high.

49 minutes: Gashi finds enough space between Inter defenders to get in a header, but he does not get enough power behind and Bantamoi easily saves it.

47 minutes: Furuholm shields the ball well enough to force Pappas into conceding a corner. The corner is deflected by an IFK defender, but another corner follows. The new corner is even worse, as it sails over everything and results in an IFK throw-in.

45 minutes: Furuholm finds himself in front of an empty net, but does not manage to touch the ball. IFK defence clear it out for a corner instead. The corner results in nothing much.

45 minutes: A rather surprising substitution for IFK Mariehamn: goalkeeper Gustav Långbacka leaves the pitch and is replaced by Willis Ochieng. Don’t ask me why.

45 minutes: Attendance 2252.

45+1 minutes: Half-time.

45 minutes: Additional time 1 minute.

41 minutes: Pappas and Kennedy go into a header. Kennedy jumps higher, and some part of his body accidentally hits Pappas’ head. Pappas looks like he’s OK to continue though. When the ball is put back into action by the referee, Furuholm does obey the unwritten fair play rule but blasts the ball into the IFK fans section. That is a pathetic suckerpunch, even though the ball does not hit anyone.

39 minutes: There seems to be no threat of a strom now. It’s cloudy, but not raining and the temperature is moderate. Nothing much happening on the pitch now, IFK are perhaps the slightly better side.

35 minutes: Ramirez’s free kick from 40 meters is deflected easily, but to IFK’s disappointment the deflection goes out for a corner. Ramirez delivers the corner, but it comes to nothing.

34 minutes: Purje dribbles his way into the middle and manages to get in a low strike from between three defenders. The strike is easily deflected by a fourth IFK guy, but it was a clear statement of intentions from Purje.

32 minutes: The frustration is growing in the Inter camp, among the crowd at least. The Inter fans in the corner are shouting “Peliä, Inter, peliä”, a chant I find hard to translate, but basically they are expressing their disappointment in what’s going on on the pitch and urging their team to start performing.

30 minutes: A dreadful clearance from Inter’s left flank results in an excellent chance for Ekhalie from about 10 meters. He comes close to doubling IFK’s lead, but the ball only hits the bar.

29 minutes: Ramirez’s corner produces a chance for Kauko from the edge of the area, but Kauko’s strike goes wide in slow motion.

29 minutes: Furuholm reaches Aho’s long ball. Gustavsson is in some trouble with Furuholm, but manages to clear the ball out for a corner.

25 minutes: 0-1 Gruborovics: IFK get a free kick from the left, near the edge of the box. Simunac’s cross finds Gruborovics, who accidentally deflects the ball home.

24 minutes: Now that I said that, Rikama’s cross from the right finds it’s way to Simunac. Bantamoi finds himself in the way of the strike that comes from five meters. That was a real chance.

24 minutes: Inter have taken the controls now and IFK haven’t had a proper attack in minutes. Inter build decent attacks, but IFK are not in full stretch. Not yet, at least.

22 minutes: A good left-footed effort from Joni Aho from the edge of the area, but Långbacka manages to stretch himself in the way of the ball.

21 minutes: Ramirez’s free kick from 35 meters takes enough of a deflection from the wall to make it an easy save for Långbacka.

18 minutes: Purje delivers a cross from the left, but the ball evades Furuholm’s head.

15 minutes: It seems like the game’s going to be very good. Inter are seeing more of the ball and their play is rolling nicely, but IFK are defending well. And when IFK get the ball, they counter brilliantly. If the first 15 minutes are anything to go by, both sides would deserve a win.

12 minutes: Arajuuri deflects Kennedy’s cross behind. IFK manage to clear the corner that follows.

10 minutes: Aristides Pertot was supposed to start for Inter, but he was replaced by Joni Kauko in the last minute. Pertot was set to start and he did take part in the warm-up routines. “Something came up”, team manager Jani Meriläinen has reportedly explained. How enlightening.

9 minutes: Simunac’s header finds the net, but the assistant’s flag saves the hosts. A question of centimetres, but again I’m not the ref. For a reason.

7 minutes: Purje goes down again, and again the referee is not interested. I think he has been fouled twice, but I can name a few reasons why I’m not a referee.

6 minutes: A very good srike from IFK’s Ekhalie from the edge of the aream just inches high. The four happy men I mentioned earlier reward the shot with another Patrick Bantamoi chant, although Bantamoi never touched the ball.

1 minute: Two good attacks from Inter: Långbacka saves Joni Kauko’s effort, and Purje is presented with a clear shooting chance in the area. He is brought down and the crowd wants a penalty, but it is not given.

1 minute: Amos Ekhalie provides the game’s first chance for Ante Simunac, but Bantamoi comes out and catches the ball.

0 minutes: Kick-off. Not many have bothered to show up, but at least the four 50-year old men near me are making their prescence known with an unorganised Patrick Bantamoi chant.

6:24 PM I just love laughing at other people’s misfortunes. I arrived at the stadium just ten minutes ago when the sun was shining, and two or three minutes later it started raining heavily. It ended as quickly as it started, but there’s still signs of thunder out there.

PREVIEW

The two teams met in the first game of the season. Inter were awful to say the least, but the team has improved after that game. Their recent form is still pretty bad: they have won just once, drawn once and lost four times in their last six games. Half of the games are yet to be played, but Inter have to play catch-up if they want to bring home some silverware. Inter qualified for the next round of the Cup by beating RoPS 2-0, but it was not a blistering performance, according to reports. Goalkeeper Patrick Bantamoi returns to Veikkausliiga action after his suspension, so Inter have a full squad to choose from.

IFK Mariehamn are unbeaten in nine games in a row, but they have drawn six of them. It is somewhat understandable, as they have suffered from numerous injuries. As a consequence, defender Kenneth Gustavsson has found himself up front on some occasions. Wilhelm Ingves’ rumoured return could ease that problem though. Sasha Anttilainen and Dmytro Pronevych are still missing.

Inter are very good at their best, keeping the ball on the ground and building good attacks. Then again, IFK Mariehamn are very good at playing against such teams, as the first game of the season between these two teams showed. Smells like another draw?